


A Stable Relationship

by myheartismadeofstars



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Boss/Employee Relationship, Equestrian, F/M, Horses, Modern Westeros, Older Man/Younger Woman, Willas also breeds dogs which comes up
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-08
Packaged: 2019-02-12 04:09:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12950976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myheartismadeofstars/pseuds/myheartismadeofstars
Summary: Sansa, with the help of Margaery, decides to get a job at Willas' stable, which Sansa hopes will help her win over her crush, Joffrey Baratheon, who Sansa has heard loves horses. Sansa doesn't particularly like horses herself (that was always more Arya's thing) but she's willing to pretend to make Joffrey like her.





	A Stable Relationship

Sansa had always been proud of her accomplishments. She had successfully gotten into the prized Highgarden Ladies Refinement School, which was everything Sansa had ever dreamed of: a school that taught her the necessary things in life. Étiquette, how to run a household smoothly, decorate, cook, dance, throw a party. All of that was in addition to the regular school things you needed to learn! It was a busy school, but Sansa would have it no other way.

 

Sansa was laying on her bed, reading one of her textbooks (home decor) when her roommate, Margaery Tyrell came in.

 

“Studying?” Margaery said. “Shouldn’t you be looking for a job for the summer?” She asked. Margaery was going to be taking up a job working with her mother making perfume. Every girl must work. After all, it was important for a lady to be self-sufficient, and this would ensure they have work experience.

 

“I don’t know where to look.” Sansa admitted. “You got your job through your family...but my family is so far away. I don’t know anyone outside of school here…”

Margaery sat on her bed, humming thoughtfully. Her phone buzzed and she checked it. She was responding to the text when suddenly she lit up.

 

“Hey! Do you like horses, Sansa?”

  
Sansa didn’t. Horses were big and smelly and loud and unpredictable. She _did_ however, know that her crush, Joffrey Baratheon who attended the boys' school nearby, apparently owned a horse. She remembered him mentioning going horseback riding last time their classes had a class together.

 

“Yes.” She lied.

 

“Great! My brother, Willas is looking for a stablehand.” Margaery told her with a smile. “You get to groom the horses and feed them and go for rides, it’s wonderful. My brother will pay you, of course.”

 

Spending every day during the summer in a smelly barn, with these big loud unpredictable creatures didn’t sound like much fun. Still, Sansa needed the experience and it would give her something to talk to Joffrey about.

 

“Sounds like a wonderful opportunity!” Sansa said with a smile that Margaery didn’t know was fake.

 

“Great! I’ll text Willas and set up an interview.” Margaery grinned as she continued texting.

 

“But...I don’t know anything about horses.” Sansa admitted. Margaery waved her hand dismissively.

 

“You don’t need to. You’ll learn on the job.”

 

_____________________________________________________________________

 

Sansa was kinda nervous as she walked the road from the bus stop to Golden Rose Stables. In time she saw the green sign with the yellow roses around the border, on it written the name of the stable. As she got closer she saw that green and gold were quite the theme at this stable. The buildings were all painted a pale yellow and had green roofs. Honestly, it looked quite beautiful, which Sansa hadn’t expected. She snapped a photo on her phone and sent it to her best friend Jeyne, who responded with awe and excitement.

 

Sansa took a deep breath of the air and got a whiff of what she was getting into from upwind. She wrinkled her nose.

 

“Ew!” Sansa exclaimed in disgust. She already was starting to regret agreeing to this. Still, she needed the job…

 

She continued under the arch that framed the driveway like the Titan of Braavos. She heard a voice coming from a ring where a young man was standing on the fence watching another man on a beautiful golden coloured horse. The man on the horse seemed to struggle with it, but the man on the fence was laughing. He was very handsome. Sansa hoped he would be one of the stable hands, so she would have more time to get to know him.

 

He seemed to notice her approach, whether he saw her out of the corner of his eye or he heard her footprints, Sansa wasn’t certain.

 

“Hey!” He grinned. “You must be the girl Margie mentioned! Sansa, right? I’m Loras.” He offered her a hand to shake. Loras! Loras was one of Margaery’s older brothers. Sansa felt foolish for not recognizing him, he and Margaery looked very similar after all.

 

Sansa blushed both from her embarrassment and how handsome he was. She shook his hand politely. “Yes, I’m Sansa Stark.” She told him.

 

“Nice to meet you, Sansa.” Loras said. “I’m working here over the summer since this is my brother’s stable.” He turned and pointed to the man on the horse. “That’s Renly.” He explained.

 

Renly turned the horse and rode it towards them.

 

“Loras, she is _impossible_ ! You have _completely_ spoiled her!” He complained as he climbed down from the horse. Loras shrugged nonchalantly.

“She’s fine with me.”

 

Renly shook his head and walked her to the gate and Loras went to meet him. Sansa, not knowing what else to do, followed him.

 

Renly handed Loras the reins and the golden horse immediately started nudging him impatiently. Loras laughed and pulled a peppermint out of his pocket for the horse to take.

 

Loras seemed so comfortable with having an animal like that acting so greedy. Of course...she had Lady, who was almost as big...and an apex predator...and could be just as greedy...Sansa was starting to realize that her dislike of horses was rather hypocritical, considering she had a direwolf waiting patiently for her return to her hotel room (it had been quite difficult to convince them to allow her to keep Lady at all, but Sansa could not bear to be separated from her).

 

“She’s pretty…” Sansa admitted, truthfully. She had never seen a horse that kind of gold before.

 

“Isn’t she?” Loras said as he stroked her nose. “Her name is Divine Gold. Goldie for short.” He explained.

 

“I still think we should have called her ‘Diva’.” Renly said with a smirk. “I’ll stick to Storm, thanks.”

 

Loras rolled his eyes. He turned to Sansa. “Sansa, I’m gonna take Goldie back to the barn, untack her and rub her down. Do you need help finding Willas? He’s in the house.” Loras pointed towards the farmhouse.

 

“Oh! Yes, actually.” Sansa said, slightly disappointed that she was subtly being sent away. Still, she respected Loras and headed towards the farmhouse.

 

There was a pretty little fence around a small garden patch near the house, that looked well-tended. The house was very simple, a quaint little house. But it seemed rather charming. She went up the path towards the house and hesitated a moment. What should she do? Knock? Ring the bell? Walk inside?

 

Sansa took a deep breath and rang the doorbell. She heard the chime through the house and heard the sound of someone shuffling papers and the sound of someone rising from a chair. Something tapped along the ground with the steps.

 

The door opened to reveal who Sansa could only assume was Willas Tyrell. He wasn’t quite as tall as Sansa was, had dark curly hair and lighter eyes, he looked young but still looked older because he also had a beard, he was handsome but not as attractive as Loras. His cane on his left side was decorated with a golden rose.

 

“You must be Sansa.” He said. He opened the door wider to allow Sansa into what looked like a mudroom. Just from the mudroom, Sansa got an idea that Willas either didn’t know much about decorating or he didn’t care. That was somewhat excusable, considering he was probably focused on practical.

 

She took off her shoes and followed him into the kitchen. Willas used his free hand to pull out a chair for Sansa, which she accepted obediently.

 

“Would you like a drink?” He asked moving towards the fridge. Sansa noticed that his leg was very stiff and he limped.

 

“Lemonade, if you have it.” Sansa said politely.

 

Willas pulled out a pitcher of lemonade. “A girl after my own heart. Summer interview and lemonade. A perfect choice.” He picked two glasses from the cupboard and carried them to the table before returning for the pitcher. Sansa wondered if she should have offered to help.

 

Willas poured both glasses and handed one to Sansa. The lemonade was delicious.

 

“Now. I understand this is going to be your first job, but have you ever ridden a horse before?” Willas asked, getting right down to business.

 

Luckily, Sansa _had_! Her Aunt Lyanna owned a horse named Tanner. All of the Stark children had ridden Tanner at some point, learning alongside their cousins.

 

“Yes! My Aunt taught me to ride when I was young.”

 

Willas smiled. “Good. Your aunt...did you ever help her with the horse you rode?” He asked.

 

Sansa shook her head. “Tanner lived on a stable about an hour and a half’s drive from my aunt’s home. They did most of the caring.”

 

Willas hummed. “Well...I’m fairly sure your aunt helped out a little bit. Most people do. You’ve never mucked out a stall? Never groomed a horse? Did you tack up Tanner? Or at least help?”

 

Sansa hung her head. She only really understood what one of those terms was, and that was ‘groomed’. “No…” She admitted.

 

Willas sighed. “Well...are you at least willing to learn? Work hard?” He asked, clearly hopeful.

 

Sansa knew that most of what she would be asked to do would be unpleasant, but she had to remember that not only did she need this summer job, but it would allow her to spend more time with Loras and more importantly: it would give her something to talk to Joffrey about!

“Oh yes, of course!” She told him with a smile that she hoped portrayed enthusiasm.

 

“That’s what I like to hear!” Willas beamed, so Sansa guessed that he believed her. “Now...I need to ask, where will you be staying while you work here?” He asked her.

 

Sansa was slightly surprised. “Oh...um….I’m staying in a hotel at the moment…” She admitted. “I would probably find an apartment when I could afford one.”

 

Willas adjusted himself in his seat so he could think a bit. “Well...that’s a bit inconvenient.” He admitted. “Because work here begins between six and seven in the morning here and we generally work until about eight at night, with a break from noon to about six. You would get two half days where you only work until noon.”

 

That sounded awful to Sansa…long hours and hard work. With horses.

 

“Staying in a hotel is expensive too.” Willas added after a moment. After another moment of consideration, he spoke again. “Now, I have a suggestion. Feel free to say no, it won’t affect your likelihood of getting the job. I could offer you my guest room. You wouldn’t have to commute out of the city, and you wouldn’t need to pay for the room. Your work would pay for you. You would still be paid by the hour, so the moment you go out to the barn you start getting paid.”

 

Suddenly working for seven hours a day five days a week didn’t sound so bad. Sansa had not expected room and board to be on the table. Still...living with someone she had only just met? It didn’t sound very wise.

 

“I don’t know…” Sansa admitted. “On top of the fact that we’ve only just met...I have Lady…” Willas had to have heard of Lady. The Starks were rather famous for their direwolves. “She is a good girl and never disobeys, but she _is_ quite large...even as the smallest of her siblings.”

 

Willas seemed to be struck with recognition. “Ah, yes. I suppose I forgot about her because she wasn’t with you. Margaery told me about her. She says she’s very sweet.”

 

“Oh she is! She’s gentle enough to eat treats out of my hand!” Sansa gushed. “She’s so well trained! She sleeps on a big princess bed at home! Even my little brother Rickon, who was only three when we got the wolves, can cuddle and play with her with no difficulty!”

 

Willas laughed softly. “She sounds amazing. Well...I have the kennel where she can stay. When I bought this place there was an extra barn and paddock, which I turned into a breeding kennel for Ashford Hunters. I believe I have room for her there.”

 

Sansa knew very little about Ashford Hunters, except that they were lovely dogs that were good with kids and had beautiful yellow or yellow and white coats. Oh, and there was a movie about one a few years ago. One of those cute movies about families and their dog that always ends horribly with the dog dying.

 

“Lady will not like living in a barn…” Sansa admitted. “She’s...a bit spoiled.” Or more than a bit.

 

Willas laughed. “My Cersei is the same way.” He told her. “Whenever she isn’t laid up with pups, she sleeps on my bed. Right now, she’s nursing her third litter.” He seemed to glow with pride.

 

Sansa looked around the kitchen. She spotted a photo on the wall of Willas in a wheelchair with a dog that must have been Cersei. Seeing him in a wheelchair was strange. It was the only photo with him in a wheelchair.

 

“Why did you name her Cersei?” Sansa asked.

 

Willas followed her gaze to the photo. “I name all my dogs after historical figures.” He explained. “That, and Tywin Lannister tried to buy her off of me when she was still a pup. Since she is a blonde bitch that was almost a Lannister, I feel it suits her.”

  
Sansa almost choked on her lemonade. Sansa had met Cersei Lannister once, when she was younger. She seemed nice enough to her...but considering Sansa had a job riding on this, she wasn’t about to argue.

 

Willas cleared his throat and turned back to Sansa. “Ah...it seems we got a bit off track…” He admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with hand. “What were we talking about before?” He asked, looking genuinely confused.

 

Sansa thought for a moment, trying hard to remember. “I think...oh! You were talking about letting me board here! Lady would be staying in the kennel, which is how we got talking about dogs!” Sansa was pleased she was able to remember that.

 

Willas nodded and took another sip of his lemonade, draining it. “Ah, yes. How about...say...a week of training. That way you can be certain you are committed to this job. I wouldn’t want you to move in here only for you to quit a couple days later.”

 

Sansa thought that was quite reasonable. After all...she really wasn’t sure how she liked the idea of working at the stable anyway, so he was right to be cautious. Besides it would give her a chance to get to know Willas before she moved in with him.

 

“If you’re curious, helping with the dogs is one of your jobs as well. Feeding them, socializing the pups, training them, letting them out, cleaning the kennel, grooming. That sort of thing.”

 

_That_ Sansa would have no issues with doing! Even cleaning the kennel would be good! She’d be spending a lot of time there anyway, because of Lady, so it was perfect.

“Sounds like a very busy job.” Sansa pointed out.

 

“I-I never thought about that...I suppose it is, isn’t it? However me and my family have been dealing with it for years now. I’m sure that you’ll have no problems catching up to us.” Willas said with a smile.

 

Sansa stood up and took both of their empty cups to the counter.

 

“So, one week of training. Then if you decide to keep working here, you move into my guest room. Are we agreed?” Willas said as he stood up.

 

Sansa turned around and was surprised to see him standing behind her.

 

This was the first time they were standing particularly close...and Sansa realized to her dismay that she was taller than him. Sansa hated that she was taller than most men she knew. She often prayed, both to the Seven and the Old Gods of the North that Joffrey would be tall, around six feet tall would be perfect for her.

 

Willas held out his free hand to shake hers. She smiled. “I suppose I’ll arrive tomorrow morning for training? And bring Lady, of course.” She would have to. She promised the hotel that Lady would only be left unattended for one day.

 

“Yes, that would be perfect. I’ll give you the full tour tomorrow.” Willas promised as he walked her to the door.

 

“That’d be wonderful, thank you.” Sansa said smiling. Sansa stepped out of the door and started walking back towards the road, and the bus stop. She pulled out her phone and immediately started texting her friends about how it went.

 

The next day would be a lot harder than this one, Sansa already knew this for sure.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not 100% sure if I should actually write Sansa's week of training or skip to her properly working there...there are pros and cons to both...let me know what you think!


End file.
